Frustrations...
 

Warning: The following post is mostly just to vent....

Why can't the agents help me today? They are completely useless.

My scheduled 7am flight from Newark to Vancouver had a mechanical failure they could not fix. We boarded the aircraft and moved back and forth from the gate a couple times while the crew attempted to fix, all the while they roasted us in the back with no air conditioning. By about 8:15, we finally deplaned. After a 15 minute wait where folks freaked out etc, the GA notified us that they put a new scheduled flight time of 3:45... There was only a single GA at our gate and she was dealing with folks who were losing it, so I walked out of the secure area to the check-in counter. There was a few agents visible but a small lineup of folks in the regular check-in lineup, so I stood in the Exec check-in lineup (I am *G and checked in there this morning). Well only a single agent was processing the check-ins and I waited as she kept taking folks from the regular line. Another agent walked past and I asked her if she could help me get to Vancouver another way, and she said "you can take the next flight to Toronto but I have to go down to baggage, so she will have to help you".

Well the next guy in the regular line asked me what she said, as he was doing the same thing as me. I said she told me I could go through Toronto but I have to wait for the agent... Then the agent finally called me over as the guy attempted to walk up, and the guy started flipping out that he had been waiting for 10 minutes etc. She told him she has to deal with the exec lineup first, and then the guy turned to me and said I am very rude and some other stuff I just ignored and shrugged my shoulders. Then he called me an a**hole which I also ignored. The agent overheard all of this but said nothing... Anyways, I asked the agent if she could help me get to Vancouver today as my flight was delayed, and she told me that she has to help the other people check in first. I shook my head and moved aside, so buddy could go ahead and get told the exact same thing. Then he asked if he could just go home and come back later to catch the flight... Duh. He called me an ....... again as he was leaving, to which I just half smiled and shook my head (I didnt say how much I enjoy this part of the world did I?).

So I waited for the rest of the people in line to get checked in, and then the agent told me that her flights were already oversold and the next flight wasn't until 2 to Toronto which would get me to Vancouver later than if I just waited for the direct flight. At this time I am wondering if all the time I spent waiting allowed the GA to book other folks into the last seats. Anyways, she then told me that it would be fastest to call AC if more delays occur as there aren't enough agents at the airport to help everyone at once and the seats go out first come first served....

Well now the flight is delayed until 4:30, so I called AC to talk to an agent about the next flight. After waiting on hold for 15 minutes, I talked to an agent who said the next flight with open seats is Montreal at 4:10, but I WOULD HAVE TO TALK TO AN AGENT AT THE AIRPORT TO CHANGE! :mad:
I asked her to confirm that she couldn't do anything for me then, and she repeated that I would need to talk to someone at the airport to make the change...

At this point I am not confident that the flight will go out at all, but AC isn't helping and I checked with UA and they have full flights, and can't look into AC's systems (not sure about that).

So I sit in the RCC refreshing the flight status page hoping it doesn't get delayed further. I guess if I had ran to the front of the gate as we were deplaning I might have gotten some help but I assumed the delay wouldn't be more than a couple hours, and since I was flying direct with no connections it wouldn't kill me. Also, I probably would get better attention if I yelled and screamed and acted like a total jerk but I am not distressed enough to lower myself to that point. I fly over 100k a year and these things happen, I just wish AC would try harder to help me out... I guess I would have to be a SE to get any action anyways.

I figured flying direct would save me from these kind of days, as usually these length of delays only happen when I misconnect...

Lastly, Steve Nash is on my flight. So that's the only cool thing that has happened today.

Phew.

Who's Steve Nash?

Will "On My Way" cover this type of mechanical delay?

I assume he means this Steve Nash?

Seriously?

Greatest Canadian basketball player of all time? Back-to-back NBA MVP winner? Doesn't ring a bell?

It's definitely that Steve Nash.

What's "On My Way" ?

My solution to this would be simple. Make sure you're stuck in an airport with a good lounge that you have access to, and if they don't want to help you, just drink enough to be overly annoying, but not enough to be kicked out.

Ask for enough to irritate them... more snacks, refresh this, blah blah blah.

http://www.aircanada.com/en/travelin...r/onmyway.html

another cash grab :p

If mechanical delay is a covered event, the $35 would have saved OP a lot of frustration. Those who had bought it and had unfortunately had to use it all said that it was worth every penny. Last winter during the snow storm at YVR, AC OMW actually bought tickets on WS to take those with OMW coverage to their destinations.

Nope

Answering my own earlier question, just read the small prints on "On My Way", yes, mechanical delay is covered.

Although mechanical delay should be handled by the airline anyway.

That's too bad... Aside from being a great basketball player, he is an all-around great human being.

I noticed him on the plane when we were de-boarding and he turned around to look back from Exec class. I wanted to say hi, but I was too shy and didn't want to bother him.

Yes except OP (if he/she had purchased OMW) could have requested to be put on an earlier flight on another airline to YVR. OP would also have been able to do it over the phone.

My thoughts exactly. I doubt the compensation for a 9.5+ hour delay is anything substantial, but I will ask anyways.

I guess in that case, I probably would have had to buy OMW with AC at the time of purchase, which would have been a problem since I bought my tickets from United and this was sold as a code-share...

OMW is to cover incidents beyond airline control (war, acts of god, weather etc....) airlines are supposed to cover operational stuff... mechanical breakdown and staffing issues are considered airline issue so they should cover u!

u have a better chance of compensation by talking / complaining to the US FAA, because they have a better passenger bill of rights in the US as compared to Canada.......

i understand for more than 3-4 hrs u should get a food coupon

my advice.... sit in lounge, eat more, drink more, surf more web..... and chat up with UA staff and see if they could help u..... cause they helped me re-schd my AC exSFO flight following a snow storm in its departure.... and accomodated me until 2am at their RCC lounge...

if urs a UA (AC metal) codeshare tix, you should have asked UA to accomodate u.... like via LAX, SFO, YYC, PDX, SEA, YEG or something then connect to YVR

good grief....some pax have to calm themselves down..... i dont understand.... sometimes why pple are sooo frustrated for something soo minor distruption in life.....

This is incorrect.

I cut and paste paragraph 2 of the Terms and Conditions of coverage at www.aircanada.ca:

"On My Way provides the services described in these terms and conditions in the event that Air Canada cancels or delays a flight within forty-eight (48) hours of a Customer's scheduled flight, whatever the cause or reason for the flight delay or cancellation ("Flight Cancellation")."

The difference here is, if OP has OMW, he/she could have requested OMW to buy a ticket on another airline leaving earlier than the re-scheduled departure time of he/her delayed AC flight.

He/she also did not have to queue for an AC agent and would have been able to do so over the phone.

He/she would probably be entitled to double meal allowance.

I did ask UA if they could help me out, but they can't do anything unless AC endorses the ticket back over to them. Upon questioning if AC did that, the RCC agent said she didn't have any open flights until the afternoon anyways, and then I would have to catch the 7pm flight to YVR from ORD. Wasn't going to help me either.

And if you are thinking I am stressed out, I am not. I was just frustrated by the lack of help being provided by AC, and wanted to share my story. I was calm the entire time. ^

In summary, as it is a mechanical delay, AC will "take care" of you. However, please take a number and wait for your turn to be called. In the meantime, AC will first take care of those who have bought OMW and have the highest priority.

Apparently, its a myth that AC "has to" endorse the ticket over to UA in order for them to accept it. There was a thread on this in the UA forum a few weeks ago, with employees confirming that, UA, or any airline, really, could choose to take a ticket from another carrier (at least in NA, I think), and submit to ARC for reimbursement from the airline originally scheduled. Of course, that doesn't mean UA "has to" accept the ticket, but they can.

Also, over in teh NW forum, there should be threads on a program they used to have (can't recall what it is called) where they would voluntarily take other airlines tickets, particularly in these kinds of situations, simply as a kind of a marketing program to get a pax to experience NW, and of course, create goodwill with the hope next time they would buy a ticket with them.

Ah yes, the little known but all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful Star Alliance Endorsement Waiver. Problem is that most agents don't know any more about it than most passengers. But here is the relevant section:

i know OMW covers everything - but taken into context of AC's Delay and Cancellation guidelines - mechanical and staffing are considered to be within the airline's control and they are required to compensate u regardless of whether OMW was purchased.

i understand too OMW is a different department / staff that has greater powers to booking AC/other flights...... hmm having said that I rerouted my friend on AC Reservations when she was stuck in SYD because of snowstorms in YVR...... ended up routing her via SYD-NRT-LAX-YYZ with UA no probs and no questions asked... they even bumped her booking class from Q to Y.

hmm i looked into FAA which directed me to DOT on Aviation Consumer Protection policies..... not much help...Suprisingly they say any delays are beyond airline's control (true from an operational sense, but sucks from a pax standpoint)

here's the link http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/publi...ts.htm#delayed

and regarding the airline endorsement to another airline, DOT"s official position is this:

"If you find a flight on another airline, ask the first airline to endorse your ticket to the new carrier; this could save you a fare increase. Remember, however, that there is no rule requiring them to do this. If your flight is canceled, most airlines will rebook you on the first flight of theirs to your destination on which space is available, at no additional charge. If this involves a significant delay find out if another carrier has space, and ask the first airline to endorse your ticket. Finding extra seats may be difficult, however, especially over holidays and other peak travel times."

Well almost a full 12 hours after my flight was scheduled to depart, and I am back at the hotel I woke up at this morning.

To make a long story short, we were waiting for pilot and first officer to come in on a flight from Montreal. That flight got canceled. Then the remaining AC flights into Newark got canceled too. So the plane was still sitting there but noone to fly it.

AC said they spent about an hour trying to a crew that was in NY/NJ to fly but was unsuccessful.

Anyways, a lot of very angry pax who vowed to never fly AC again and demanded to have their tickets moved over to other carriers tonight/tomorrow (probably most for tomorrow). I understand that the final cancellation occurred because of weather but the original problem was mechanical and resulted in a lot of folks being stuck at the airport all day for no reason.

Good on the GAs for not losing their minds.... but it would have been nice if they worked more orderly, for those who just wanted rebookings to get out of there instead of spending copious amounts of time helping those who were causing a scene and asking for the moon.

Anyways, my plane is not supposed to leave until noon tomorrow, and the GAs said that it should be the same plane so hopefully its fixed. I have my doubts that many other planes will make it in tonight because of the storm, and think the first flights out will probably steal our plane if they have a crew.... but thats to worry about tomorrow.

really sucks eh..... ur better off driving up to toronto to catch the flight....8 hrs of beautiful drive!

As what a good Canadian should do :)

did u say hi to the idiot that cursed and cussed at u @ the line too??? ;)

EWR sucks on a clear day. Looks like CNX throughout the NE Friday. Must have been some bad storms
IMO, kinda hard to lay this on AC . . . Their E/C-Jets don't get priority into EWR when vis is limited. Wonder how bad CO was affected today?

BUDDY start screaming get AC to put you on anyones flight;) Your first flight was a mechanical. AC should have put you on another airline after that, and not made you wait 8 hours.

"On My Way" - Give me $25 and I'll give you with service I should be providing for free!

why pay $25/$35 (pending on location/distance travelled) to have OMW when your credit card might have it covered already??? I know CIBC Aerogold covers trip delay & cancellation (cause I used it before) as well as some AMEX......

sometimes for that $100+ annual fee (pending on credit card) those insurance do come handy!

Well if misery loves company, here's my sad tale also from NYC yesterday (Friday). My wife and I were flying on the 5:30pm LGA-YYZ to connect on to YVR. Got to the airport and checked bags an hour before flight. At 5pm, announcement that all further Air Canada flights to Montreal and Toronto were cancelled for the night due to thunderstorms. Sky was sunny in NYC and Toronto at the time, so it was hard to swallow, but what do I know. I make arrangements with the concierge to route us home Saturday (thereby missing an important celebratory brunch my wife and I were to attend Saturday morning in Vancouver). We then proceed to pick up our luggage. We find that my wife's suitcase is not there. AC baggage office checks and it is nowhere to be found. Someone must have taken the wrong bag thinking it was theirs, we are told. Unlikely it was stolen as they haven't had a theft there for 5 years. This type of thing happens regularly and people bring them back. They don't locate the bag overnight. When we check in for the flight this morning (Saturday), the lead check-in agent takes us down to the baggage office. There were no similar bags to ours there, meaning it is unlikely that someone simply took the wrong similar suitcase. Now it looks like it was stolen. Luggage contained a bunch of clothes my wife bought during our week in NYC.
Storm started in NYC at around 6pm and lasted about half an hour. Sky cleared after that.

i always advise, 1+1..... 1 handcarry + 1 laptop/purse/bag